Interior

Our Accord Crosstour has memory seats; they're standard in EX-L models like ours and in certain respects, Honda has done a good job with the execution. The memory-seat controls are located exactly where you're expect to find them - high on the door, within ready eyeshot. They're also easy to use - adjust the seat, press "Set," hit "1" or "2" and you're good to go. I had to reprogram the settings and it took me all of three seconds.

But there's one thing I'd change about the way the memory seats operate, if I could.

Our long-term 2010 Honda Accord Crosstour has a small storage box at the bottom of the center stack, below the CD player. It's easy to miss or forget. That's why I hid my garage door opener in there a while back when I had to valet park. I was pretty sure the valets wouldn't find it.

Perhaps other (somewhat famous) people could hide things in there they wouldn't want discovered. For example, Chris Brown, Tony Parker, or Tiger Woods could place their mobile phones in that stash box so Rihanna, Eva, or Elin, respectively, wouldn't find it.

I suppose you could hide your "medical marijuana" in there too...but that police K9 will probably discover it.

I'm a fan of lumbar support, but seriously, the Honda Crosstour's front seats are extreme to the point that they're uncomfortable. Having the ability to adjust lumbar support to a massive amount is one thing (and for many out there, a good thing), but being stuck with a level that jabs into your back, forcing you into a continual arch, is another. Even with the driver's seat turned to its minimum level, I find it excessive. And the front passenger seat can't be adjusted at all. So if you don't like a ton of lumbar, tough luck.

I drove the Crosstour for the first extended time this past weekend. Not just a lunch time errand or a commute home late night and back early in the morning. But all weekend, holiday shopping running out to dinner and the movies kind of weekend driving.

Ok, I'm going to say it right out: I think this thing is hideously butt-ugly. Now that we're past that, I think this is a pretty solid choice vehicle. Here's why:

My primary interest in the Crosstour is that I've been thinking of a vehicle like this for my future. I love trucks, but seeing how gas prices are climbing back up, I'm hesitant to drop a good amount of money on a vehicle that chugs gas at $4 a gallon (future forecast price for arguments sake and yes, Southern California gas prices are just that ridiculous). For most of the outdoorsy stuff I do, it would require a above average clearance, a capable AWD system, and flexible cargo capacity. That means my choices boil down to that fact I'd want the light truck capability but in a more reasonable gas efficient vehicle. Simply put, a crossover.

Most of the cute-ute crossovers don't do much for me. That puts the wagon-like crossover options front and center for my considerations. Keeping all this in mind, I closely paid attention to what the Crosstour had to offer this past weekend.

First off, I thought that the 271-horsepower 3.5-liter i-VTEC V6 was pretty awesome. Tons of power when you needed it, not a lot of lag when you stab the gas pedal, and the G-logic transmission management system kept the engine power right in the sweet spot for active driving without hunting for another gear.

With all the rain dumping on LA these last few days, the pot holes were opening up all over the place. The Crosstours ride was compliant enough to manage all the bumps and bangs with a great amount of comfort. I'd agree with Erin Riches that the interior is incredibly quite. I was very surprised by the Crosstours level of ride refinement.

While the button waterfall center console was a bit much for me, the overall interior is really quite nice in my opinion. I know many of the Editors had issues with the build quality, but maybe those pieces were snapped/glued back into place before I got there because I didn't notice them. Contrary to many of the other Editors on staff, I found the seats very comfortable. As added bonuses there were plenty of thoughtful touches throughout, like the automatic activation of the rear wiper when putting the car into reverse (when your windshield wipers are on). Overall I felt the Crosstour is a solid, comfortable and city capable vehicle.

I say city capable because of the optional real-time 4WD is a simple mechanical system that lacks locking differentials, computer optimization, and front/rear torque vectoring. This kind of system would work for inclement weather, but I worry about it's effectiveness for off-roading. It seems the Crosstour has focused me onto the Subaru line with it's capable asymmetrical AWD system.

Would I buy the Crosstour? Honestly, probably not. The price point, the simple AWD system and the overall exterior styling are probably deal killers for me. Is it a bad car? No. I think it's a good car. Just not a great car for me.

Our long-term 2010 Honda Accord Crosstour has many switches on its centerstack, but with a little familiarity, almost any function can be found quickly.

There's one small thing that is missing, though. And that is a switch to shut the center HVAC vents. I like using Auto HVAC control, although I don't like the direct airflow from those center registers. Most new car models have the ability to shut them completely by either a switch or having the flaps fold flat.

Not a big deal, but an improvement point for the next generation Honda Crosstour.

Honda revised the standard Accord gauge pack for the Crosstour, ostensibly to give the pricier hatchback-crossover a more upscale and distinctive feel. Instead of red needles, you get blue ones, and each needle base has a blue ring around it -- an extraneous bit of styling you'd never find in any Accord sedan.

I've tried to like the blue-lit gauges in the Crosstour, but I just don't. After 300 miles of nighttime driving, the blue needles and rings are still distracting, and I notice them every time I look at the gauges, which is often. I never had this issue in our long-term Accord sedan -- I simply read the instruments and didn't think about their design. (Ignore the distracting warning lights in the photo above; I didn't want to run the engine while shooting my photo, lest the vibration induce blurriness.)

However, Karl has written that he likes the blue Crosstour gauges, and perhaps many of you would agree. I don't really care what scientific studies say, or what fighter pilots prefer -- what I want to know is for your personal car, what is your gut preference for gauge illumination? Red? Blue? Green? White? Orange? Some combination of the above?

Yesterday, after I left a friend's place and was on my way home, the "Low Tire Pressure" warning light for our 2010 Honda Accord Crosstour came on. Eek!

Yeah, worrywart that I am, I feared being stuck with a flat tire on a dark street; I had at least half an hour of daylight left and 10 miles til I reached home. So I pulled in to a gas station to check on the tires, fearing the worst.

I scanned each tire and ran my hand over each one to see if I could feel air or if there were any nails. Nothing. So then I proceeded to check them with the tire gauge (those things are hard to read!) on the air wand.

According to the sticker on the driver door jamb, the recommended psi for both front and rear tires is 32. And according to the tire gauge, the front tires were just fine, but both rear tires looked to be about 28-30 psi.

I filled them up and within a minute or so after starting the car, the "Low Tire Pressure" light went out. And the good news is that the next morning, it didn't come back on, meaning no leak. Pfew!

This weekend as I was driving the Crosstour my gaze fell upon the the gap -- located on the front passenger door -- shown above. I kinda wish it hadn't. Now it's all I can look at when I ride in the thing.

What's striking is that most build quality issues tend to escape my attention unless I get in the car thinking "Right now, I'm going to check this thing out for build quality issues." But the Crosstour's gap entered my experience without invitation. It's a gaping wound. I want to give it stitches.

When I got in today, I checked the blog to see if any other editors had written posts on the Crosstour's build quality shortcomings, and sure enough, our esteemed Mr. Romans provided a thorough analysis of the situation a few months ago.

Yesterday when I parked our 2010 Honda Accord Crosstour, I couldn't help but notice how chintzy the handbrake felt in my hand, very light with none of the meatiness of typical handbrakes. It felt almost like it would break off, and it made a more-obnoxious-than-usual ratchet noise. So just to make sure I wasn't bonkers I checked out a couple of other handbrake-equipped long-termers: the Kizashi and MS3. Sure enough, neither of those felt as bad. And those cars are less expensive than the Crosstour to boot.

I know in the video it sounds like every other parking brake, but in person, its weight and feel struck me as unusually cheap. Just sayin'.

I don't think I'd driven the Crosstour at night before yesterday, but with the days getting shorter my commute is stretching into darkness. No biggie in the Crosstour, as it's got bright gauges in a soothing, white-and-blue color scheme.

I'm kind of a stickler for gauges. Like steering feel, it's one of the primary interaction points between driver and vehicle. To pass mustard gauges need to be easy to read quickly, provide all vital information (no idiot-light-only temp warnings) and stay crystal clear when the sun goes down -- without causing eye fatigue over many hours.

The Crosstour scores well on all points. I still wish the fuel gauge had more than just an "F" and an "E" and a halfway hashmark. Quarter marks are a bare minimum in my mind, with one-eighth marks preferred.

But otherwise I could stare at these gauges during an all-night run from L.A. to Denver, which is the true torture test.

Yesterday was the annual Chocolate Salon in Pasadena, California. Chocolate and women go together like bees and honey, like gin and tonic, like macaroni and cheese. So, I loaded up the Crosstour with my female friends and hopped on the 110 freeway.

It's always hotter in Pasadena than where I live by the beach, so we were grateful for the Crosstour's easy-to-use A/C unit. My front seat passenger and I got our own temperature controls. And while the rear seat passengers couldn't control their own temp, they did appreciate the adjustable vents in the back.

All complimented the Crosstour's roomy back seat area. We're all on the short side, but even so, they enjoyed the 37 inches of legroom and 37.5 inches of headroom.

One of my passengers owns the previous generation base Honda Accord and commented on how much more room the Crosstour has in the back. The other has a brother who just purchased a Crosstour in a darker color. She thought it looked much larger in white.

There was plenty of room for chocolate and nothing melted, including us.

We've complained in the past about the placement of some of the buttons on the Honda Accord Crosstour's center stack, a problem Honda has acknowledged. In the 2011 Accord sedan, some functions have been moved to improve convenience and shorten the reach for the driver.

( Thanks to Kurt Niebuhr for the seat shot. Turns out, taking good pictures of a cars seat is damned near impossible. At least for me, today.)

The Honda Accord, and thus, the 2010 Honda Accord Crosstour has the worst seats in the world, bar none --- and I mean NONE. Elise, Ariel Atom, Grand Marquis, all better than the Crosstour. You've heard about this before, recently, but it's worth mentioning again.

The leather's nice enough and it doesn't have the fabric scrunching that plagues the CR-V and Odyssey, but they're still awful.

Sitting on the Crosstour's seat is like sitting on a pregnant lady who's had her legs removed at the knees: There's no thigh support, and something round is constantly prodding your lower back. This is some sort of orthopedic seating design that only one person I've ever met finds pleasant but that some doctor in Japan probably claims improves something by something else.

We bring up a lot of small, irritating interior details on this blog; "I like x." "I dislike x." "X in the sun hurts my eyes." but often they're things that, with time, you'd just get used to. A seat that makes you want to stab yourself in the face to stop the pain in your back? Yeah, not so much.

Too bad, too, because the Crosstour's got a nice ride and well, the fewer sedans there are on the road the better. But you won't see me with one.

I know I just used this picture yesterday, but it illustrates what this post is about. The front seats in the Crosstour have a strangely shaped upper portion. See how they kind of scoop out the top part? The top of the seat back doesn't support around my shoulders.

Maybe it's because I'm short but I don't think so. Maybe it is overly aggressive lumbar support?

The way I like to position the seat, which is leaning slightly back but not too much, the top of the seat falls away from my shoulders. So, I have to position the seat more upright than I would naturally like to sit. If I lean back too far, it stops touching the top of my back altogether. Weird design.

Anyone have a similar experience is their Crosstour? Any of you own a Crosstour?

I heard an intermittent rattle in the rear of the Crosstour and went in search of a rear seatback that might not be fully seated, or an errant bit of forgotten cargo flotsam, or ...? What I found was both sides of the rear hatch trim had been dislodged from their respective surrounds. Of course, I'm not certain how long these perches have been like this, but the fact that both of them were identically removed suggests some sort of forgotten replacement after an inspection--or an onboard gremlin.

Call me crazy, but I like the Crosstour's handbrake. And it's not because it gives me the opportunity to easily throw it into some wicked tail slide.

No, I like the handbrake just the sheer convenience of it. Put it in park, pull the brake and you're out. Now I know that sounds slightly ridiculous since pushing a footbrake is not exactly a chore, but I noticed it nonetheless. Maybe it's the new push button parking brakes that make the lever seem so charmingly simplistic, or maybe there's something to yanking a big ol' lever and knowing the car isn't going anywhere. I really can't explain it, but I do prefer it.

Out of curiosity, I rode around in the back of our Crosstour this weekend while my wife drove us to a friend's barbeque. I was mostly interested finding out how the headroom was due to the hatchback body style. I'm 5-foot 10-inches and didn't have any problems, though perhaps those of editor Riswick size might. If you go by the specs, the Crosstour has 37.5 inches of rear headroom and includes a standard sunroof. With a sunroof, the Accord sedan has 37.2 inches of rear headroom, or 38.5 inches without a sunroof.

Just like the Accord, you get an impressive amount of legroom and shoulder room in the Crosstour. The seats don't recline, but there's suitable thigh support and nice armrests for both sides. Going for a long-distance trip while riding in the back wouldn't be any problem at all.

A while back Al had written about our Crosstour's navigation screen, noting that its recessed location helped cut back on the chance of it being washed out by direct sunlight. It seems like a fine idea, but just in general I've never found the Crosstour's screen to be exceptionally bright or easy to see.

Part of the problem is that the recessed location has traded one issue (direct sunlight) for another (indirect). I've noticed that midday sun will reflect up onto the screen from the bottom ledge, thereby washing out part of it. We've had other test cars with recessed screens (our 750i comes to mind) but I don't remember it being as much of an issue. A brighter and crisper screen for the Crosstour would definitely help out here.

Our Crosstour has these trim inserts throughout its interior. Am I the only one who thinks the addition of (presumably) fake wood throughout an otherwise plastic and leather interior is out of place? It's not even that the stuff looks that bad on its own. But it certainly feels like a feeble attempt at nostalgia by paying homage to a time when wood was actually a practical material to use inside a car. Today, however, wood color and grain in a sea of grey just doesn't make sense to me.

Our long-term 2010 Honda Accord has a nice Navi/Audio screen and a great interface. Of course the HMI (Human Machine Interface) of a touch panel screen is better than systems with a remote control interface like this, Idrive, and MMI.

But one of several advantages for these systems over touch panel displays is that the Navi screen can be set back in the IP (Instrument Panel, the engineering term for "dashboard") so it is shielded from glare. This isn't practical with touch panel displays as this would cause interaction interference.

You can also present larger fonts, and the focal length is better for older people with remote controlled displays.

You can still get a bit of glare on the Crosstour's Navi screen depending on the driving situation, but most of the time -- no.

Our long-term 2010 Honda Accord Crosstour is actually a 2010 Honda Accord Crosstour 4WD EX-L Nav. That means it's the top-of-the-line model. It also means it is loaded with features. Standard features, from a sunroof to heated seats. In fact, there are no actual options available on the 4WD EX-L Nav, just doodads from Honda's line of accessories.

But today we're going to talk about the Crosstour's heated seats, which you can see have two settings, LO and HI. On a scale from 1 to 10, I give them an 8 because they heat up quickly and distribute the warmth evenly between your buttocks and lower back. I would like a little more heat on the upper part of the seatback, however. I also think most of you would find the BTU output on the weak-side of acceptable especially in the wintery areas of the country, as they feel toasty warm on a cloudy 55 degree Los Angeles morning.

While many of my colleagues have extolled the virtues of our Honda Accord Crosstour, I won't be doing the same. I actually like driving the thing -- good steering, comfortable ride, agreeable control layout. But then, I like driving an Accord too.

My beef lies with everything behind the driver seat. With that funky hatchback design, you only get a measly 51 cubic feet of maximum cargo space. Compare that to the 71 cubes of a Subaru Outback or 70 cubes of a Toyota Venza. A RAV4 and CR-V are even bigger, and heck the old Mazda 6 5-door hatchback (which was awesome) had 59 cubes. Other than the Venza, all of these models have excellent rearward visibility. I can't see a damn thing out of the Crosstour when reversing into a parking spot because the C-D pillar is enormous.

I must ask then: what's the point? It has substantially less cargo space than wagons and crossovers, its back seat is no bigger than a regular Accord's, its fuel economy is no better than competitors, there's no available four-cylinder engine and to top it all off, it's pricey. Our Crosstour costs $37,563 whereas a similarly equipped Subaru Outback would be $34,685. A fully loaded, V6-powered Equinox is $35,155.

People don't like wagons or hatchbacks (presumably) for aesthetic reasons, so perhaps something with striking design can overcome practicality and value shortfalls. The thing is, the Crosstour doesn't do that. My fiancee rarely comments on the cars I drive home, but last night she felt compelled to point at the Crosstour and say "I don't like that. Looks like something sat on an SUV."

Obviously, vehicles like the Accord Crosstour don't succeed because they're especially sexy or especially engaging or especially easy on the eyes. They succeed because because they're easy to live with.

In that respect, our Crosstour gets the job done and then some. This weekend, the crossover was like the sort of old friend with whom you can easily have long, comfortable silences. Its suspension was accommodating, soaking up bumps without fuss or complaint -- all while managing to deliver decent road feel. Its amiable front seat offered good support as I ran errands around town. And of course, a couple bags of groceries weren't a problem for its decent-sized cargo area.

My time with the Crosstour wasn't thrilling, but it was pleasant. I got the sense that the crossover could handle whatever suburban challenge I happened to toss its way.

OK, I'm in the "hated it" camp with regard to our 2010 Honda Accord Crosstour's looks. But compound that with the fact that the pinched-off rear end makes it difficult to see off rear starboard when trying to switch lanes, and I TOTALLY hate it. As editor Phil Reed had noted in a previous post, looking "over your right shoulder gives you no information."

It makes me extra insecure about switching lanes, especially with distracted L.A. drivers abound. They might not see my turn signal and my bright white vehicle moving into the next lane. Someone has to be watching for these things. So I take extra time to check my mirrors, take several long looks over my right shoulder in the vicinity of that huge blind spot to make sure it's all clear, and then switch lanes. Pfew!

By the way, you may have noticed that the rear head rest is missing. At first I thought one of the editors thought it was too distracting but then realized they may have just taken it out so they could fold down that seat.

When I was driving the Crosstour last night, every time I eased up a little on the throttle, the Eco light came on. And it made me think about how Honda has changed. They used to be racy, sporty, feisty, scrappy. They used to be involved in motorsports. Now, they are more concerned with fuel economy. I know it's important to take care of the environment. But sometimes, you have to take care of your soul.

My personal car is a ten-year-old Integra. I still enjoy driving it. In my opinion, it has the greatest suspension ever made. In southern California, you still see old Civics, Preludes, Integras all over the place. People love them. They can't give them up. You can't buy anything like them from Honda anymore. OK, there is the Civic Si but even that is not the same.

What is this Crosstour thing? It's like it was put together by committee. Sport it up, Honda. Make it desirable.

Precise steering makes the 2010 Honda Accord Crosstour beautiful to me. It's never about road feel in this weight class, but the ratio (15.2:1) is dead-on for this type of vehicle (crossover shaped like root vegetable). Further, power assist is carefully meted out in the usual Honda fashion by the hydraulic power steering pump.

I also like the steering wheel, which feels about a half-size smaller in diameter than what I'd expect to find in a vehicle of this size. The almost dainty wheel is a pleasure to hold and perfectly in keeping with the light, but not too light, feel of the steering.

Our long-term 2010 Honda Accord Crosstour has very nice meters. They have a clean design and are exceptionally easy to read. But what sets them apart are the blue indicators. At night, when the cluster is lit, they almost appear to float. Very nice indeed.

I went to put something in our Honda Accord Crosstour's glove box today and noticed that it's out of alignment, with the door not fitting as tight as it should on the right side. Curious, I went poking around the rest of the cabin to see if anything else was amiss.

On our Crosstour, I also noticed a warped plastic piece on the front passenger door's window switch area, an instrument panel-to-door gap that's noticeably bigger on the driver side than the passenger side, and a slight gap where the upper and lower instrument panel pieces meet next to the gauge cluster (there's no gap in other similar places). None of these go beyond being minor interior fitment issues, but my personal take on Honda's reputation for high interior quality has dropped a bit more.

One thing I remember about our long-term 2008 Honda Accord was that some editors didn't find the front seats very comfortable. So I'm pleased to see that our new Accord Crosstour has already been used for a few long-distance trips without complaint. Dan in fact commented favorably on the seats for his drive to Arizona. Comparing pictures of the long-term Accord's seats and the Crosstour's, it looks like at least the leather stitching is a little different, so perhaps Honda made some minor padding and contouring adjustments as well.

I never had a problem with our long-term Accord's driver seat, so I'm not surprised that I like our Crosstour's, too. Even after multi-hour stints, the seat has remained comfortable.

It's spring, so it's time to be away to the races, even one as stupid (and wonderfully successful) as Jay Lamm's 24 Hours of LeMons. This one took place at Sears Point.

About 420 miles door-to-door, 860 for the weekend and 24.4 mpg. Orchards along Interstate 5 were blooming, white for the usual almond trees and then pink for a few groves of cherries planted next to vineyards. A great time to drive in California, except for the major insect homicides.

I'm a huge Honda fan so I was eager to drive the 2010 Honda Accord Crosstour, particularly since a friend here at Edmunds wants one as a family hauler. I agree with Dan Edmunds' driving impressions, and I particularly like the steering feel and the firmness of the suspension.

But unlike Dan's trip through the desert, my drive was 31 miles along a freeway with four to six lanes in each direction. Cars, trucks and motorcycles are coming at you from every direction. The rear visibility is severly restricted by the divided rear window. But more noticeable is the way the tapered back end eliminates any chance of checking the right rear blind spot. Shooting a look over your right shoulder gives you no information. You are completely reliant on your mirrors.

Some drivers never turn and directly check the right blind spot before changing lanes. But I need the security that there isn't a small vehicle, or a low car like the Mazda Miata -- or even a motorcycle -- there before I change lanes.

There are two ways to drop the rear seats in the Honda Accord Crosstour. You can pull them down using a handle on the top of the seatback. Or if you're loading cargo into the hatchback and realize you need more space, you can pull the levers that are on both sides of the cargo area and the seats will drop. Very convenient. Here's a video demonstration.

My short dash to Arizona is history. Our 2010 Honda Accord Crosstour is back its assigned spot in our underground garage. Better still, the Crosstour now has enough break-in miles for its initial track test next week.

Gas station to gas station, the trip from my Orange County home to Prescott, Arizona was 343.7 miles long. The return trip was somewhat longer because I first made a detour south to Glendale, Arizona before pointing the Honda west, towards home.